The First Moment Of Truth

What Is The FMOT?

The First Moment Of Truth is the 3 to 7 seconds that it takes for a shopper browsing a store shelf to make up her/his mind on whether they are going to go home with your product or one of the competitors' versions that are close to it on the shelf. 

It was coined by Procter & Gamble in 2003, when they understood that a shopper's eyes typically swept through a store shelf full of products - theirs and their competitions'.
The brevity of the period of attention for each item meant that gaining the advantage for their own products was critical. 

Activities usually related with FMOT are in-store advertising, branded shelves, product packaging, interactive kiosks, digital store signage and even coupons.
And yet FMOT marketing is not so much about those examples as it is about the thinking behind them. 

Which is why I should add that point-of-sale promotions had been in existence before the FMOT was coined (eventhough the traditional advertising world hadn't paid quite as much attention to it). So I am not actually giving absolute provenance to P&G here.
What they accomplished was to fashion a concept and mental model out of it. They separated it from the stimulus stage of advertising (i.e. TV, cable, radio, magazines, billboards, etc), trimmed their spending on those while allocating the freed-up funds to it; and even set up a department for it - run by a Director of FMOT.

Stimulus – (where psychology meets advertising) stimulus is exposure to advertising messages however insignificant such exposure might be. For an advert to be consciously processed by a would-be customer, their attention is essential.  Hence, P&G felt a lot still needed to be done after this stage.

So I submit to you that it is less about the activities and more about the cultivated mindset - i.e. the discipline you put into research, planning and implementation of your FMOT campaigns.

Let me illustrate:

Imagine that you recently got ₦2 million loan from your uncle to start that wonderful t-shirt printing business you've always wanted.
After striking  a deal with the likes of Mega Plaza and Spar, you realized you had to be careful how you promoted your wares since you had spent a reasonable amount of your cash on store space.

Hence you opted for a FMOT strategy instead of the unnecessarily expensive form of mainstream advertising. (i.e. those earlier mentioned above - tv, magazines, etc). You had learned from me that it was a disciplined, customer-oriented way of thinking about the store - as a type of battle ground. Therefore you came up with ideas that you could afford:

You hired 3 store agents. You had some simple standing signs made, and printed some cool flyers, because let's face it, you are indeed a very creative person.

The whole idea here was that, just like P&G, you had now understood that shoppers did not come to the store with their minds already made up about what they came to buy. They may come for one item but leave with four more. Or they could come in for one product and leave with another entirely. 

The thinking here is that if you can invest time, energy and resources into increasing the likelihood of shoppers choosing your product, then you are likely going to win at the First Moment Of Truth. 

So anyway mid-way into the first day you call your 3 sales agents and they all report tremendous sales. You then start to wonder, "Are my t-shirts that pretty? Or is my FMOT strategy working much better than I expected?"
You decided to try something else; you switched your best performing sales agent with the least performing one. 
And since you couldn't afford to print in-store coupons, you decided to do something similar: You gave every customer the privilege to come back wearing their t-shirts and get a 20% discount for their next purchase 

This has the added benefit of using your customers as live models to advertise your t-shirts right there in the store - the first moment of truth - for other customers.

And the best part of this is that you did not get this idea from me. You came up with it yourself.....now that you are developing the mindset. You can keep observing (or gathering information) the process as you implement and reiterate. As your profits increase and your business grows you will also consider adding the ZMOT strategy and even traditional advertising or guerilla marketing techniques if need be. Read more about ZMOT here.

Now the funny thing is that since P&G came up with this many marketers in Africa (or in Nigeria at least) have still not caught on as much as they have abroad. 
Yes, a few businesses are giving out coupons to help make sales, they even create large indoor signs and have them strategically located in your line of sight as you approach their product's isle. 

But to be honest, they only do some of these things only because they see others do them. Hopefully, after reading this, a marketer in the retail sector would be better equipped to do battle at the FMOT.
I will not likely be writing about the Second Moment Of Truth (SMOT) because that is the experience stage of the product. It occurs with the consumer's use of the product, and it mainly boils down to the actual quality of that product. Marketing does play a role there as well, but one that is out of the scope of this article.

I am expecting your comments or questions.
Let me know what your experience is at the popular stores around Africa. What are marketers doing to grab your attention on the isles?
Do you know that FMOT principles could be applied to online stores as well? Even airports, cinema halls, hospitals. In fact, almost anywhere you can find a cashier. ☺

What Is ZMOT To A Nigerian?

ZMOT is a four letter acronym for a marketing concept developed at Google by Jim Lecinski. It stands for the Zero Moment Of Truth. 

In digital marketing, a ZMOT is the most crucial stage in a shopper's decision making life cycle, and it presents tremendous opportunities for marketers who are serious about taking the lead in their industries in this new digital age.

However, to the average Nigerian business person, this may not mean much right now. But I am willing to bet that it would mean a great deal to many of you in the next 3 to 5 years. Especially if the country continues to grow and develop at this rate.

DEFINITION

In a marketer's hypothesis of a customer's path to a purchase, the ZMOT is the stage that comes immediately after the potential shopper receives a stimulus (advertisement, or other form of initial proposition) and before a decision is made at the store.  

Before the dawn of the digital age, stimulus was believed to play a decent role in the customer's mind to get him to a store. Advertisements are expected to grab your attention and sell you an idea. This is called the stimulus stage, and it usually comes long before a decision is taken at the store shelf.  

This decision stage is called the First Moment Of Truth (or FMOT). A stage where wise marketers who realize they cannot rely completely on the message in the initial stimulus to get you to make the purchase.  So by doing some additional promotion in this Shelf stage (the packaging of the product, in-store advertising, etc) marketers want to influence your decision at the point of purchase (like a store).
If this is done right, marketers could even "steal" the customer that was brought in by a competitor's stimulus. 

After check out at the counter the customer takes the product or service (after a deal or contract has been made), and uses it. This is the Experience Stage and the amount of satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) that the customer gets with the product is aptly called the Second Moment Of Truth.

BEFORE

AFTER

Meanwhile, the Zero Moment Of Truth comes after the Stimulus stage, but before the First Moment Of Truth. It became a recognizable phenomenon as the world got more and more transformed by the internet and mobile phones. 
And there is more than enough evidence to show that it is playing an increasing role on how modern day shoppers make their final decision at the counter. The most crucial role in many cases.

Consider someone who enters a shop to ask for Product XYZ, with serial number 123, with accessories ABC. 
Such a case is that of someone who did his homework well before going to the store, right? That is how to understand the ZMOT.

To make it simple:
The ZMOT phenomenon is a new way we behave;  like when you argue with a friend about who the top goal scorer in LaLiga is. A long time ago, such arguments often ended with guys making bets. 
These days, few young men are confident enough to take these bets, because they know that the other guy would get the answer within a second of bringing out their smartphone.

And many of us have extended this "swift answer mentality" to our shopping behavior as well. 

So the ZMOT is not only a concept, or a moment in time; it is a whole new mentality. A new and increasingly frequent destination we go to before we make a purchase.


In the new digital age, people no longer easily buy the B.S. of advertisements as they used to (pardon my expression). They want to investigate and learn more about the service or product. And this is simply because it is getting easier and easier for them to do so these days. Technology is changing the way the market behaves and you have no choice but to adjust to it. That is if you wish to remain in business for a long time.

HOW CAN ZMOT STRATEGY HELP MY BUSINESS?

Now I know some of you have heard about SEO (or Search Engine Optimization). While many more of you know a little bit about Online Advertising and how it is more target & intent oriented than the kind of advertising that you have in the real world.
Some of you might also be lucky to have learned a few things about Web Analytics, so you know that it is profitable for you to analyze how people interact with your website. And you all probably know more about Social Media Marketing and the fact that people are getting more and more advanced at using social networks (like Google+ and Facebook) as marketing and sales platforms.


But now, try to think of the ZMOT as an angle or an approach through which you pilot your business to greater success.  It's a method that often ties those other digital activities together in one powerful strategy. 

Imagine that you are managing a store in Ikeja that sells a particularly rare beauty product (XYZ).
Then imagine a woman who lives in Surulere and who wants that product XYZ really badly.
But now imagine that some creepy sales-rep from another beauty company is at her house trying to sell her an alternative product ABF.

So while she reluctantly thinks about buying this crappy product ABF, she thought to share on her Twitter, Facebook and Google+ profiles, a post asking her friends, "Does anyone know anywhere in Lagos where I can get rare cream XYZ?"

What kind of strategy would you adopt in engaging this kind of ready customer at the Zero Moment Of Truth?
You have to start thinking along those lines from now.
Not just launching digital campaigns for the sake of "needing to go digital with your marketing". 


Some more examples are:

• A cocoa farmer searching on Google for the most appropriate fertilizers. 

• An Abuja-based couple browsing for affordable hotels in Calabar for their honeymoon, and suddenly discovering that one of their friends has left a 5-star rating and an online review for an affordable guest house there.

• Or....Surprisingly making up your mind to buy an iPhone4 instead of the Blackberry Z10 you had previously planned to buy, after searching the term "Best Smartphone for business in Nigeria" and finding a very compelling blog article where someone was comparing a number of smartphones. 

In these examples, the suppliers or providers of fertilizer, or hotels and guest houses in Calabar, and of Androids and Blackberry phones can do something to give their own businesses the advantage. They don't have to rely on luck.

It requires a ZMOT strategy…Or it requires that you actually know how the digital realm works and how it shapes user behaviour.

So it is more about having a certain mentality than it is about being a super computer genius, wizard or guru. Or any of those other meaningless tags that people throw around these days. 

I would also say that it is more about adapting traditional marketing principles than it is about IT proficiency. I mean, you can always get computer geeks working for you, while you coordinate them. But not everyone really understands what Ogilvy meant when he said "To be interesting, be interested".

A ZMOT TESTIMONIAL

Here is something that I discovered while eavesdropping on a conversation between two ZMOT-minded professionals:
In answering a question about understanding where their customers were in their shopping life cycle, and what were the right messages to meet them at each point, Laurie Tucker (the Marketing Executive of Fedex) captured the essence of a ZMOT-minded strategy here; and I am slightly paraphrasing what she said:

"We've put up about 150 videos on our YouTube Channel to say, 'how do you use Fedex?'….But at another level we start to understand how our customers respond to our content, and we begin to grade them based on their engagement with us. We look for look-alikes; Test; Repeat; Repeat again; and then (we) begin to get sophisticated….So I start to think about this and realize that marketing is the new sales!"

Now, if you didn't get that, it is only because you are perhaps really new to digital marketing concepts in general. But please note that all I really need you to take away from what she said here is really just one word…

…THINK!

The marketer here (Laurie Tucker) gained a level of awareness by constantly engaging her customers at their ZMOTs. She is clearly rewired for the new digital age, and quite frankly the company she works for would reap the rewards of this.
ZMOT mindedness would do this for you as well.

As a Nigerian, you can surely testify to the increasing usage of mobile phones by all and sundry to browse the internet, and you know how often you hear people say, "google It!" nowadays.
This is our present reality. And the future will surely see it increase in this direction. If you are in business, you should be thinking of how to take advantage of this by now.

Thank you.


Did my article do anything for you?
Please let me know what you think?
Do you disagree or agree with anything? I look forward to hearing from you….

Find me on LinkedIn as well.

What Is Google+? (An African Perspective)

What Is Google+? (An African Perspective)

The simple answer is that Google+ is a social network that helps you find and share your interests with others who share those same interests. Here in Africa we generally show a lot of affinity toward a communal way of life. That African characteristic is very observable in the way we use Facebook in Nigeria. But I think there is a lot more we are missing.

I believe it is important that we try to take advantage of every opportunity presented by each different social network. Google+ presents a different opportunity than Facebook and other networks like Twitter and LinkedIn. It is an opportunity to truly develop your understanding of your area of interest.  Sometimes you hear people say “I have already joined Facebook, and all my friends are there. Why do I need to join another network?”

But this is a very narrow way of looking at this issue.
I always say that people should try to consider the name first:
"Google  +  Plus".
This suggests that you consider the qualities of GOOGLE, and then much more.

So for me, Google+ is the network where I learned to become an advanced searcher of the Web. A place where I met people who helped me to broaden my knowledge and expertise in many many areas of interest. It is the place where I became an Internet Power User.

Broadening Your Horizon

I am not saying that Google+ is the only network where you can find experts and other enthusiasts of your field of interest. All I am saying is that it is the place where they congregate to not just showcase their interests alone, but to also engage in some of the most thoroughly enriching, globally interactive discussions you would find anywhere on the internet.   

So, unlike Facebook which basically connects you with your family, your friends, and perhaps their circle of friends, Google+ is not really the best place for you to go and look for your existing friends.
Instead, you should be thinking more about making new connections that share your passion for the same things you are truly passionate about, from all over the world.  So your Google+ connections (or circles) do not have to be your friends from the start. It mostly begins as people who display their keen interest s publicly, and will welcome your thoughts on those interests in such a way that it would lead you to discover new and amazing things and facts about that very topic.

An example of a Google+ connection could be a Japanese woman who likes Italian cooking the way you like Italian cooking. It is like you connecting with lawyers on g+ from top American, UK , and Nigerian law firms, to whet your appetite for your dream profession, while you are still in Law School here in Nigeria.

The important thing is that when you add someone with shared interests, you get to see what they are sharing in your home stream. This is really a great way to find important information and knowledge when you get used to it. (And by the way, whenever you choose to add somebody, it is good to add them to a circle that identifies their interest, for example you can add me to a circle called Marketing – If the circle name is not available you simply create a new circle)

Google+ For Business

We should also distinguish Google+ from LinkedIn, which is a network that is purely about professional networking.

The difference here is that while LinkedIn does a good job of connecting you with professionals in your field of profession, as you will find that Google+ will also do, LinkedIn does not encourage you to show off your other interests apart from that profession.  Google+ does this extremely well through its circles structure,  and that is why I call it "a network that helps users share and sharpen all of their interests with relevant people from all over the world."

So you can share your political rants without it bothering your network of electrical engineers with them. Some have even described Google+ as a place for sharing your passions. All of them (from job to hobbies).

But whether you call it interests or passions, one thing is certain that you can have as many of them as you like. And manage those interests and the relationships that come with those interests very effectively through your Google+ circles.

The Authorship SPARK

I believe that the major reason that Google+ became the social network for interesting people (you may or may not quote me) was because of the Google Authorship project that was eventually abandoned by Google in 2014.

So what is Google Authorship?
You may remember when you used to see people’s photographs beside their articles on Google search.

You can find a lot of information about this Authorship all over Google+ or the larger internet, but my brief explanation will just be to say it was a way that Google related people to the content that they wrote across the web. Many also saw it as a way to improve the ranking of their content on Google search.

Additionally, digital marketers taught their clients that Authorship was a way of displaying their expertise to their readers, while constantly reminding Google’s robots of their relevance in the subject, in order to gain TRUST and authority for whatever topic they constantly wrote on.

This meant that many professionals from all works of life joined and immediately started to link their written content and online publications to their Google+ profiles with the Authorship tag. And this consequently led to the fact that a lot of high quality professionally written content became easily discoverable by their relevant audiences on the Google+ platform, through sharing, commenting, and +1s (or likes).

Needless to say, Google+ attracted the top experts in many fields early on. It also helped their followers & fans to find them much more easily. Hence the social network for interesting people!

The Spirit Of Google+ Is its SEARCH Engine

Remember that Google are the masters of search? Well, for sure here in Africa, they have no rival.

Now imagine a social network where you can search for anything you are interested in and it will dig up what you are looking for with the littlest of efforts on your part. You can then jump into the conversation with those who are engaging on that topic of interest; politely ofcourse. 

You will not find anything close to this on any other social network, trust me. On Facebook for example, you probably won’t even find your own posts that you posted a week before in most cases. Unless you scroll down your timeline manually.

The EARLY SETTLERS

Some of the earliest users on G+ were Yifat Cohen and Mark Traphagen to name a few. They and many other awesome G+ early birds have worked hard to help shape the culture within Google+; so it’s a place where there are now tons of very helpful people from all over the world who connect and share useful information with each other in such a way that you won’t see the likes of on LinkedIn or on Facebook or anywhere else really. Adding such people cannot be a bad thing. Trust me.

The REALLY Good Stuff

But at the end of the day, for me, the strongest appeal for using Google+ is the fact that it integrates with so many other services like Youtube, Gmail, Google search, Google Maps, and so many other services from the same company. This integration is really helpful as it “brings the things you usually use closer to you”.

Apart from all that, the major reason why I think Google+ is very important RIGHT NOW from an African perspective is that the fact that it has not yet become so widely used by Africans would certainly put those of us who get very active on it early enough to be able to take advantage of all of the benefits I have mentioned here in the long run. I did not join Facebook very early (compared to other Nigerians) and it took me about 4 years to build 950 friends (eventhough I already knew most of them). Whereas in less than 2 years (using as much effort to engage and interact as I did on FB) I have built up more than 2000 followers on Google+

So that’s it!
If you have anything to add to my article about Google+, or if you have anything you disagree with, or if you have a question about Google+ or social networks in general,

Please feel free to share with me here (you will need to create a Disqus account in order to comment) or you can ask you question on Google+…..simply search for this post on Google+ by copying and pasting this, “Rotimi Orimoloye  Google+ An African Perspective” in the Google+ Search bar. Thanks.

Yemi Osinbajo And APC’s Failure At The ZMOT.

APC Announces Prof Osinbajo As VP Candidate!

A few days ago (DEC 15th 2014), the APC (All Progressives Congress) finally announced their Vice Presidential Candidate for the 2015 Presidential Elections.

This delay should have been the perfect opportunity for the Branding or Marketing agencies that handle the APC’s marketing campaigns.


Why do I say so?

Anyone who understands the insightful marketing concept developed by Google, called the Zero Moment Of Truth will understand what I mean. But if you don’t have an idea, I will try to explain here. You can get further enlightened by investing a few minutes of your time reading the following articles: Click ►here and ►here. 

If I had been part of APC's marketing agency, I would have told them well ahead of time that if Prof. Osinbajo was going to be one of their potential candidates to be possibly selected as Buhari's running mate, then they must have to let me create several web pages ahead of time, that fully introduced the man, his history, his beliefs, and hopefully add some data about the man.

Politicians Have Their Own "Customers" Too

ZMOT strategy is not only powerful for diverting wondering online shoppers to my clients' websites; it can also be a very commanding tactic for political strategy and propaganda as well.

People use their smartphones, their tablets, their laptops, and soon even wristwatches and glasses, to browse the internet or social media in order to find quick info on anything (product, service, brand, person or fact) that captures their curiosity at anytime of the day, and wherever they are.

It doesn't matter what the thing of interest is, people know they can immediately do their homework online, and get instant information on it.

The world has never been as incredible as this. Information was never so accessible. And this new reality changes so many things about human behavior now and more so in the future.

However, most organizations in Africa seem to be taking these changes too lightly for their own good. 

Yet it is crucial that you, who are smart, actually start to pay close attention to such developments. 

APC clearly did not. 

They had a perfect opportunity to set the agenda on what kind of information searchers would find on Osinbajo. 
Because the man was almost completely unknown at the time, they could have controlled, at least the first wave of information that the public got about him.

And not just that alone, they could have also used the opportunity to inform the public about things they (APC) would like people to know about Buhari (their front-runner), and any additional details about their party they would like to address.  

That is a powerful position to be in, for a political party, wouldn't you agree?

If I had been part of APC's marketing agency, I would have told them well ahead of time that if Prof. Osinbajo was going to be one of their potential candidates to be possibly selected as Buhari's running mate, then they must have to let me create several blog articles and several semantically marked-up, static web pages that fully introduced the man, his history, his beliefs, and hopefully add some data about the man.

Then I would wisely insert other information that APC would like to get to the electorate along with this information. Just as I always advise my clients that they should always let me know whatever big things they are planning to do, ahead of time. They often don't know how they can use such occasions to greatly magnify their brand message on the Web.

APC lost a great opportunity because the world would not go rushing all that much to search about Rotimi Amaechi or Babatunde Fashola, since they already know those two very well. 
But no one had ever heard of Yemi Osinbajo. 

So why not ensure that your party tells the VERY FIRST stories about him to the electorate? 

And why leave potential voters at the mercy of online news mongers or gossip bloggers?

I mean really think about this....

ZMOT Is A Bridge Between Stimulus And Shelf

APC failed to capitalize on a perfect opportunity to dominate where it mattered. They should have taken advantage of the powerful STIMULUS that was sure to ensue from their announcement of Prof Yemi Osinbajo as Buhari’s running mate. 

Someone in APC should have seen what was coming. Or, why should such a large organization not have a competent internet savvy marketer?

Within hours of the announcement, hundreds of thousands of potential voters would have immediately gone to search Google for the words, “Yemi Osinbajo”: A search string that would continue for a while, no doubt.

In traditional consumer behavior, the customer goes through certain steps:

Stimulus - is a message about a product that reaches the consumer. Like an advertisement, word of mouth, or an announcement heard on TV. 
Don’t forget that a political candidate is also a kind of product being "sold" to a “buyer” of some sort.

Shelf stage - is where the customer goes to the store to buy the product. Or to vote, in the case of a consumer of governance. 
This is known as the First Moment Of Truth, or the FMOT. It was coined first moment of truth by Procter & Gamble Inc. because their researches found that it took a less than a second browsing through a shelf at the store for a shopper to come to a decision on what to buy. 
In politics however, we must quickly realize that it is illegal to do any form of “marketing” at this FMOT stage though (i.e. on Election Day).

The Experience Stage - is known as SMOT, or Second Moment Of Truth. You've bought the product and are using it. Your experience with the product could go a long way in dictating whether you would buy that product again. 
In politics, this would translate to you voting for the candidate for a second term.

Now, the internet and the connectivity of mobile phones has forged a new model. It has added a new and larger stage in this customer algorithm:

The ZMOT or Zero Moment Of Truth now fills the crucial gap between the Stimulus stage and the FMOT stage.

Stimulus can no longer do any more than tickle the curiosity of consumers these days. It’s no longer enough to send them directly to FMOT to buy. Rather, stimulus more likely sends customers online to do more homework. 
And there is likewise a new mentality that marketers can use to engage them there. Even in such an industry where the “product” being marketed is governance, and were decision making takes longer than a moment.

Their branding or publicity department should have already had their ZMOT messages ready and waiting for the Party's leadership to make the announcement that sent Nigerians off to the ZMOT.

ZMOT Strategists Would Have Been Prepared!

So back to APC’s announcement:

A competent digital marketing strategist should have easily foreseen the fact that announcing the name of someone who is relatively unknown would immediately cause such a name to start "trending" in cyberspace.

Within hours of the announcement, hundreds of thousands of potential voters would have immediately gone to search Google for the words, “Yemi Osinbajo”.

Soon after that, thousands were sharing what they found through Google on their Facebook and Google+ social media profiles.

Funny enough, information about Yemi Osinbajo would have still been trendable, even if the party had ended up choosing Rotimi Amaechi. All they would have needed to do in such a scenario is, during that eagerly awaited announcement, to say, "the party seriously considered Prof Yemi Osinbajo before finally opting for Amaechi", and boom! Osinbajo would still trend a bit. 

That's another ZMOT trick. But you likely won't be lucky enough to convince the party to do that. ;-)

Please note that I am not stating any form of allegiance to APC or any other party with this post, I am simply just analyzing things and pointing out how organizations waste opportunities to fully capitalize on the new digital age. 

The handwriting is on the wall!
We are in  the age of Digital!



Thanks so much for reading.
Please share your thoughts, contrary-opinions, and questions on this matter with me here.
Also consider reading more about the ZMOT here.


By the way, I also write about non-marketing related stuff as well.

Blue Ocean Strategy For NDDC

THE Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has begun a series of workshops on blue ocean strategy formulation for its management staff in order to improve service delivery to people of the Niger Delta region.

I have to say this is a really impressive initiative, and I must commend the NDDC CEO, Mr Bassey Dan Abia for this strategic move. Read the the article in Guardian News.

Nevertheless, I can't immediately understand why the NDDC would need BOS for executing their projects, since Blue Ocean strategies are designed to help organizations that need to reconstruct their markets in order to escape competition. 

So I just wonder why NDDC leadership needs to learn reconstructive market strategies. I would expect this kind of move from companies like MTN and GTBank, who are constantly battling it out with rivals in their industry and turning their oceans (market spaces) red. 

Or could it be possible that Guardian Newpaper mistakenly printed Blue Ocean Strategy instead of Blue Ocean Leadership, which are related but significantly different?

Anyway... I guess the NDDC probably have their reasons why they opted for the BOS workshop. 

And in anycase, the truth is that Blue Ocean Strategy still offers a certain clear disciplined process of thinking, planning, research and analysis that is extremely useful in any kind of business planning process; not just in a reconstructionist instance.  

All in all, I believe this is great vision shown by the commission, but I sincerely hope that the training is carefully understood and imbibed by the attendants so that the entire region can benefit from the dividends of projects that have gone through the Value Innovation Process, ERRC, Strategy canvas (perhaps)...etc.

Being from Ondo State myself (a Niger Delta state), I hope my state's leadership would also tap into this progressive way of thinking in time to come.

The key ultimately is to have many Nigerian businesses and entrepreneurs thinking this way, not necessarily government parastatals. 

Tell me what you think?

5 Things Digital Printing Can Do For You

5 Things Digital Printing WITH A KODAK NEXPRESS Can Do For You:

This post was written mostly for the sake of printers in Nigeria (or other parts of Africa) who are yet to start taking digital printing seriously.

It is also written for the sake of those who may already own or are interested in purchasing a Kodak Nexpress Digital Color Press, but don't really know how to use it. 

Yes, the Nexpress machine is without a doubt, the best digital variable data press in the world today. But if you haven't properly understood the kind of business you want to do with it, or what it is really capable of, then you will be more or less using your Nexpress to kill mosquitoes...unfortunately.

So with more than 6 years of experience marketing and promoting the Kodak Nexpress in Nigeria, I can share a few things to help any of you who may have stumbled upon this article online:

5 THINGS A NEXPRESS CAN DO FOR YOUR PRINTING BUSINESS:

(I have many many more examples, but I will only share these 5 for now in order to whet your appetite)

1. Short-run Jobs - Nowadays, some of your customers  want to print 10 jobs of 250 copies each, instead of one job of 2500 copies. 
This can also make you the ultimate publisher for not well known authors.

2. Texture Effects - Printed documents can add texture. So you can print an advertisement of a suede bag with the simulated feeling to match.

Kodak Nexpress Dimensional Dry Ink - Feel The texture of the orange on any kind of paper

3. 5th Imaging Unit - Apart from the Texture effects already mentioned above, the 5th Imaging Unit also generates unique colours, and does Security Printing - using inline watermarking for added security, authentication and protection. MICR is also available. 

4. Using a digital Nexpress together with Offset Presses - Acquire new customers with your unique Nexpress solutions, while retaining old customers with your high volume offset printing. This differentiates you from your competition without you losing out in any area of the market.

5. Nexpress With Digital Marketing Techniques - A digital press can help your customer's online marketing campaigns. Nexpress' variable data personalization will make your website's traffic much more relevant and targeted.

These and much more benefits from the Kodak Nexpress digital press will help differentiate your printing business among all the other printers all over Africa. 

Wouldn't you like to have people bring large jobs to you from other African countries?

5 BONUS BUSINESS TIPS ON HOW TO USE A KODAK NEXPRESS

1. STOP thinking like a printer - stop thinking about the cost of ink and how many copies a toner can manage. Instead think about Value and Differentiation. Ask yourself "what can I do for my customer that nobody else can?"

2. START thinking more like a business developer - A Nexpress is a very sophisticated machine. It does many things that your offset presses can never do. This kind of flexibility actually gives you the audacity to present yourself to your customer as a multiple solutions provider, not a just mere printer.

3. LEARN how to help your customers sell more - Because the more they sell, the more they print from you. But make sure you do this in a way that benefits your printing services.

4. GATHER and use DATA - data helps you know more about the customer - knowing the customer better helps you to sell to him. Everyone needs information about their customers to help in selling more effectively to them (even Pastors and Car Dealers). It is what makes any kind of salesman successful.

5. EMBRACE the internet - think of web 2 print services, building databases and CRM. The Nexpress can send highly relevant traffic to your customer's website. (ask me how)

Thanks for reading.

If you are a printer and are interested in purchasing a Kodak Nexpress Digital Color Production Press, you can reach me directly via Google+ or Twitter.....check the upper column on the right side.  


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